Coaching For Leaders

You may have received training on giving feedback, but do you maximize how you receive it? On this show, discover how to get way better at accepting feedback. Guest: Sheila Heen Author with Douglas Stone of Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well* Author with Douglas Stone and Bruce Patton of the New York Times Business Bestseller Difficult Conversations* Feedback sits at the core of two human needs: Our need to get better Our need to be accepted, respected, and loved for how we are now “Who’s giving the feedback is often a louder message than what they’re saying.” -Sheila Heen The six steps: 1. Know your tendencies Baseline (or set point): a level of satisfaction that you gravitate towards in the absence of life events Swing: how far positive or negative feedback knocks you off your baseline Recovery: how long it takes you to come back to your baseline Recovery speed can be different for positive and negative feedback Understanding your profile can help yo

We’ve talked a lot on this show about what to do in challenging situations. Today, what to do when the worst happens. Guest: Andrew Stenhouse, Ed.D. Dean, School for Graduate and Professional Studies Vanguard University of Southern California Loss is pervasive and we don’t often recognize how much we’re dealing with loss at the time. Three broad categories of emotions tend to show up for people during a time of workplace loss: Fear We don’t know the loss will affect us personally We don’t know how we are going to react to the loss These fears can surprise us and cause even more anxiety Anger We can be angry at the person who we lost We need to be able to express our anger in some way Anger sometimes feels good because it provides some illusion of control Sadness Anger tends to yield to sadness Guilt is the feeling that we could or should have done something We can sometimes feel guilt that we are not in as much pain as we think we should be What leaders can do after a l

Susan Gerke: GO Team Resources This model originates with Bruce Tuckman in the 1960’s Forming Storming Norming Performing Susan and I discuss the issues at each stage above and the actions that both team members and leaders can take in order to maximize team performance. There are several options when conflict emerges: Reform the team Do good Feel good Deal with the conflict There are also several ways that change itself can happen to a team: Leadership changes Membership changes Changes to the purpose and goals of the team Resources The I in Team* by Susan Gerke Go Team by Susan Gerke and David Hutchens What’s one action you will take to be more proactive with your team’s development? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

Susan Gerke: GO Team Resources Teams are different and unique Purpose Structure Stage of Development Membership Leadership When you are trying to figure out how to lead a team, 2 models can be very helpful. Types of Teams Interdependence degree of cooperation and coordination Number of meetings Content of meetings Goals —team vs. individual Reward team vs. individual Expertise Training plan Resources The I in Team* by Susan Gerke Go Team* by Susan Gerke and David Hutchens Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

John Dickson: Spokane County, Washington Here's a link to the Lean Fighter article John mentioned about some of the work he contributed to at Boeing John mentioned the learning organization that was articulated by Peter Senge. This model was made popular in Senge's book The Fifth Discipline*, which is a must-read for leaders and also appears on my Top 10 books for leaders list. “The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, and serve first. The conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.” -Robert Greenleaf “Enthusiasm is the little recognized secret of success.” -Dale Carnegie A recent article from the Spokesman-Review on the new utility bill payment system that John spoke of on the show. What’s one shift you could make that would make you more like a servant leader? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

For many of us, our tendency is to minimize our daily interruptions so we can get more done. On today’s show, my guest Douglas Conant helps us all recognize why these moments are critical in our work as leaders and how we can best utilize them. Guest: Douglas Conant Founder, Conant Leadership (Facebook) (Twitter) Former CEO, Campbell Soup and President of Nabisco Author with Mette Norgaard of the New York Time Bestseller TouchPoints: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest of Moments* “The More I Learn About the Outside World, The More Effective I Am With The Inside World.” -Doug Conant Doug's TouchPoint framework Ask first, “How can I help?” 1. Listen intently to what’s said and not said 2. Frame the issue so you understand the context in which the person is looking for your help 3. Help them advance the agenda Ask at the end, “How did it go?” Doug mentioned the book Talent is Overrarted by Geoff Colvin* Check out these two articles from Doug Turn Your Next Interr

This week, we dedicate the entire show to community questions about training. Guest: Bonni Stachowiak (@bonni208) Question from Jordan I am a young manager (mid-20’s). My job requires training large amounts of staff on software and technology. Many of the staff are twice my age, and tend to ignore me when giving trainings. I’m, not sure if this is because of my age, or because I have only been with the organization for 5 years, and many of  them have been here for 20+. Or perhaps it is because of the subject matter of the trainings? Do you have any suggestions on how to get through to them? Is it content or credibility? Seven Principles for Leading People Older Than You [episode #59] Seek out people who are giving you objections and find out how to best serve them. Dave mentioned How To Win Friends And Influence People* Lynda.com* is a good solution for learning popular software online at your pace Adobe Captivate is a good option for creating your own simulations Screenflow for the Mac is gr

While many things contribute to happiness, one key attitude shift in how we talk and think about our activities will help us be much happier. “Happiness isn’t doing what you like, it’s liking what you do.” -Quote on my dad's desk Vance Caesar was one of my professors in graduate school. He wrote The High Achiever’s Guide To Happiness* Vance said, “Create more 'gets to's' than 'got to's" Do you have more “get to’s” than “got to's?” Do you have to give someone feedback today, or do you get to? Do you have to give a presentation today, or do you get to? Do you have to resolve a conflict today, or do you get to? Do you have to go to work today, or do you get to? The secret to happiness is having more “gets to's” than “got to's” What will you do this week to turn a “got to” into a “get to?” Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

We all know what corporate brands are, but do you have clarity on your own, personal brand? Today, we examine the five elements of an effective personal brand with executive coach Heather Backstrom. Guest: Heather Backstrom HeatherBackstrom.com Executive Coach What is a personal brand? Personal brand is who a person is from the inside out. It’s not about external looks - that is personal image (also important, but different). 1. Values Knowing our values can provide clarity on the kind of work and work environment we choose. To help get clarity on your values, you may wish to utilize Dave’s values exercise at this link. Consider experiences in your life that really brought you joy - what values show up? For more on values, check out Coaching for Leaders episode 20. 2. Vision It’s about where you are now and where you wish to go. Create a target for yourself by defining it visually or in writing. “You can’t hit a target you don’t even have.” -Zig Ziglar For a journaling app, check ou

Being connected is great, right until it’s not. How to improve the quality of your connectedness with an expert from the Center for Creative Leadership. Guest: Jennifer Deal, Ph.D Center for Creative Leadership Author, Always On, Never Done: Don't Blame The Smartphone Center for Creative Leadership works to help improve leadership. Many people said that staying so connected really started when they received their smartphone. On average, people in the survey were connected to the workplace 72 hours a week, or 13.5 hours a day. Personal tasks done during the workday were accounted for in the research (even people that don’t work these kind of hours still do personal tasks at work) One of the biggest complaints was the number of meetings required in organizations. A major issue is being invited to meetings and then people realizing that they weren’t really needed. Setting clear agendas is key. Be explicit why each person is needed. Another major complaint was too many people making

“Knowledge management is a set of processes, individually constructed, to help each of us make sense of our world and work more effectively.” -Harold Jarche Capture Capturing through the stream Twitter Some social media Live TV Live radio Capturing through subscriptions Email updates and newsletters Podcasts RSS via services like Feedly.com Curate Bonni uses Delicious (link to her library) Dave uses Pinboard (link to his library) Evernote Pocket Kindle App Snippefy app (useful to export notes and highlights from Kindle) Diigo Create Social media postings Conversation starters Classroom/meeting starters Writing Bonni's blog is TeachingInHigherEd.com How would you like to get info from Dave? Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

So you’re in the midst of conflict and frustrated with the other party. What can you do get what you really want? On today’s show, Bonni Stachowiak joins me to discuss the path to get there. Guest: Bonni Stachowiak Bonni and I discussed three steps for getting what you most want out of conflict: Recognize our tendency to focus on ourselves being right and the other party being wrong. Getting clear on the feeling factor: becoming aware of our own feelings and learning to express them accurately to another party Know your short and long-term goal. “Given what has already transpired that you can't change, what do you want to have come out of this situation?” We recommended the book Difficult Conversations* Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback USA: (949) 38-LEARN Did you know? That there is a full episode list online? Check it out at CoachingforLeaders.com/episodes Did you know there is a tag cloud of topics for everything on the Coaching for Leaders site? Check it out on the homepa

If you Google the phrase “work-life balance” you’ll get 265 million hits. There’s lots of information on this so called balance, but not as much on the practical perspective of what works and doesn’t for people. Today, my guest John Corcoran and I tackle the practical pursuit of work-life balance. Guest: John Corcoran SmartBusinessRevolution.com John also appeared on Coaching for Leaders epsiode #106: How to Create Your Personal Networking Plan List of resources that John or I mentioned during our conversation: Ursula Burns (CEO of Xerox) and her thoughts on work-life balance, as reported by the Wall Street Journal The Storyline Productivity Schedule (used by John) David Allen's Getting Things Done* (both John and Dave use the philosophy of this system) ProductiveFlourishing.com (John uses) OmniFocus (Dave's task management system) Drafts (how Dave captures thoughts throughout the day) 5 Days To Your Best Year Ever (Dave attended this course over the holidays to set his 2014 goals) iCloud c

What if you loved starting your work most days? What if you were able to create a workplace where people felt joy? Our guest today leads a place that Inc. Magazine has called, “The most joyful company in America,” and is here to inspire us to do more for the people we lead. Guest: Richard Sheridan Author of the new book Joy, Inc.* CEO, Menlo Innovations Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback USA: (949) 38-LEARN Episode #125 airing later this month will be an all question and answer show focused on the topic of Time Management. If you have a question relating to time management, please record it for consideration for this episode at this link. Thank you to Juha Ruohola, Mir Ali, Chad Belletete, Donnie Mefford, Simon Cooper, Varun Perla, Sanjay Patel, Craig Strickler, Terry Cao, Melissa Hecht, Hani Alshoulah, Par Hoglund, Reza Ahmadi, Rebecca Mohon, Lynn Schaffer, Teresa Gibson, René Rasmussen, Klaus Feldam, Dick Donovan, Melissa Williams, Sylvia Emery, and Ron Echtenacher who subscribed to my

Has email taken over your life? If you’re like me, is certainly can often. Today, I welcome David Sparks of MacSparky.com to teach us how to get better control of this communication medium. Guest: David Sparks of MacSparky.com Author of Email* and Paperless* Co-Host of the Mac Power Users podcast David and I speak about his new book Email and how we can use more effective workflows and planning to take control of email. You'll find his perspective helpful for considering actions you can take with your email. Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback USA: (949) 38-LEARN Twitter: #CFLshow David's book Email* David's book Paperless* Coaching for Leaders episode #120 is an all request show! Record your question at this link. Almost 500 people are participating in my coaching plan on the Lift app on how to Become A More Respected Manager. Check it out at coachingforleaders.com/liftplan Thank you to Halina Kavalenka, Paul Gallo, Vitaly Rubanenko, Jenny Jones, Chelle Ziegenfuss, Kian Ruddock, Debra

I’ve been getting asked a lot in the past few weeks: OK, how do I delegate effectively? On today’s show, how to delegate work and the seven steps you should follow if you want to get the best results for your team and the organization. I spoke about the broad framework for empowering others back in Episode #53: Get Results From People With Three Simple Steps Broadly, three areas we need to consider in delegation: Planning/expectation setting (what this show and the seven steps below are about) Regular check-in/accountability Consequences The Seven Steps of Delegation: 1. What does success look like? Time = define the deadline and major milestones Cost = staff time, budget, and resources Quality = what the customer (internal or external) expects the work to produce 2. Who is the right person? Who is the best person for the job? What kind of resources do they have? Who do you need to develop? Think succession planning. 3. Communicate expectations Speak in detail to the three area

Tony Stubblebine: CEO and Founder of Coach.me Article mentioned by Tony early in the show: Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue by John Tierney I've created the Lift coaching plan 30 Days To Be A More Respected Manager Join the plan at http://coachingforleaders.com/liftplan Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback USA: (949) 38-LEARN Twitter: #CFLshow Thank you to those who’ve subscribed to my weekly update this past week. I publish an article each week that will give you a booster shot between shows on how to lead better by giving you actionable advice to improve your communications, human relations, or personal productivity. If you’d to receive it in your inbox, just go to coachingforleaders.com/subscribe. Plus, you’ll get instant access to my video overview and downloadable guide on the ten leadership books that will help you get better results from others. Thank you to CrazyDude80 for your very kind written review. If this show has been valuable to you as well, please leave a written review o

We all want to be right, but of course we are sometimes wrong. The advice from Dale Carnegie almost a century ago is as good today as its ever been. I welcome back Bonni Stachowiak to explore why when you are wrong, you should admit it quickly and emphatically. Guest: Bonni Stachowiak Dale Carnegie said almost 100 years ago in How To Win Friends and Influence People, “When you’re wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.” Four truths: My truth Your truth Our shared truth The actual truth Three benefits you get from admitting you are wrong: You advance immediate progress on organizational goals You drive future innovation and creativity You inspire people to move forward The best marriages are not without conflict. The best teams and leaders and not without error. Community Feedback CoachingforLeaders.com/feedback USA: (949) 38-LEARN Twitter: #CFLshow We referenced How Authentic Leaders Apologize - Episode #54 I’m looking to chat with about 10 people to do a little R&D for my Course1

Tom Henschel: The Look & Sound of Leadership Many of us are told time and time again in our careers that we should be asking for feedback from the people we work with and manage. However, a lot of us mess it up. On today’s show, 3 steps to soliciting feedback from Tom Henschel, executive coach and host of The Look & Sound of Leadership podcast. Discover More Activate your free membership for full access to the entire library of interviews since 2011, searchable by topic.

The vast majority of us both want and need a strong professional network to support our career and leadership success…but a lot of us don’t know where to start. On this episode, I welcome former white house speechwriter John Corcoran to teach us how to grow our network. Guest: John Corcoran Author, How To Create Your Personal Networking Plan Download here: http://smartbusinessrevolution.com/coachingforleaders Community Feedback Leave an audio message now USA: (949) 38-LEARN feedback@coachingforleaders.com Twitter: #CFLshow Thank you to Seth Wexler, Gonul Reyhanoglu, Jason Buschlen, Kaylene Walker, Jesus Marco, and Brenda Lorraine Hall for subscribing to my weekly article this past week. I email one update each week that will give you a booster shot between shows on how to lead better by giving you actionable advice to improve your communications, human relations, or personal productivity. If you’d to receive it in your inbox, just go to coachingforleaders.com/subscribe. Plus, you’ll get instant access t